Generally, an electrical connector includes some form of dielectric housing that mounts a plurality of conductive terminals for making electrical connection with the terminals of a complementary mating connector and/or other connecting devices such as to the circuit traces on a printed circuit board, flat flexible cable or the like. Many connectors are shielded or filtered to protect against interference with the electrical signals carried by the terminals.
Unfortunately, existing connectors and the modules including such connectors are costly to produce and require significant capital investment for automated assembly and fixturing. Precision carriers are required to enable accurate alignment of the connectors to the module, which represent a significant portion of the total tooling cost. Additionally, the module must be cured at a very high temperature, which potentially results in decreased reliability and shortened part-life.
Typical die cast modules have one or more electrical connectors also known as headers which include a dielectric shroud having wire contacts that require soldering to connect the contacts to the printed circuit board (PCB). Soldering is expensive, has the potential for being associated with environmental hazards and is prone to cracking over time. Compliant pin contacts require a straightforward press-fit or interference connection with the PCB eliminating the disadvantages of the soldering process. Including compliant pin contacts on die cast modules has not been commercially feasible. One difficulty that the present approach has recognized and addressed is the difficulty of accurate and precise placement of the headers to the stamped or die cast housing because variations in the molded shroud and the tight tolerance between terminals and PCB holes prevents the precise and accurate placement of the straight end or compliant pin end terminals needed to achieve proper mating of the terminal ends to a PCB or other electrical component. Precise placement is required because the PCB connection tip of the terminals, whether compliant pin ends or straight ends must be centered in the PCB upon mounting of the PCB to the housing. The relative tight tolerances required in precisely placing pin terminals for mating to a PCB have made integrating terminal pin connectors to a control module housing challenging.
The present disclosure provides an approach by which electrical connectors having terminals with either straight ends or compliant pin ends can be mounted accurately and precisely on a consistent basis such that the terminal ends are positioned to properly engage a PCB or other connection. In other words, the present approach provides precise and accurate positioning of the straight or compliant pins of the header in the x-axis, y-axis and z-axis. The present disclosure minimizes stack-up tolerances between PCB and header which were encountered in systems utilizing precision carriers. The present disclosure also provides an approach by which overflow of adhesive used to secure the electrical connector to the control module housing can be captured.